Rented normally, you'd make about £68 a month.

Will it pay?Calculator

£68 of every £1,641 is yours to keep, each month

You keep 4p of every pound of rent. The mortgage takes 57p.

£934 mortgage

£560 running

£1,641 rent in£68 yours

◧ market rent £1,641 · 39 comps2 empty weeks a year assumed

What if I change my assumptions?The dials

At the asking price, 25% deposit, 6.50% charged

Change any of these 16 and every card on this page changes with it. The 6.50% is the 5.75% quoted plus a company premium.

◧ worked out from local rents

What will it cost me to buy?Breakdown

£77,550 + refurb costs

£20,050 of that never comes back — stamp duty, solicitor and lender fees.

£77,550 to buy it

deposit · stamp duty · solicitor · fees~£10,764, unseen

□ works not inspected

What would have to be true?

Nothing — it works at the asking price

The rent covers the mortgage, the running costs and the tax at the £230,000 asked, so there is no discount this card has to name. A lower price would be upside, not a condition.

◧ worked back from the rent

Can we trust the rent?Rent evidence

Nearby lettings, but only by searching 1.5 km

We widened the search to find them, so these are not next-door comparisons.

+29 more

our bar: 10 within 500 m

what 20 nearby lettings ask£1,500–£2,900/mo

our own middle half£1,541–£1,747/mo

■ 39 lettings within 1.5 km□ searched wider than our barAdvertised rents, not signed tenancies

What will the rent borrow?Lender test

The rent carries the whole loan — it could fall 1% and still cover it

Your deposit is what limits this one, not the rent. Lenders test the rent at 7.5% and need it to cover 145% of the payment.

£1,563 needed

of £1,578 rent

stressed at 7.5%, 145% cover

◧ rent after empty weeks £1,578PRA-style test

How big is it, really?The plan

Measured off the plan, not by a surveyor 789 sq ft

The area comes off the plan, not a survey. Open for what that means.

□ area off the floorplan — not a survey

Is it a good location?Open the map

Watford, WD18 0EY

1 of 5 schools in this postcode area rated Good or Outstanding and flood risk checking… — open for the map, the schools and the rest.

Article 4Not assessed for this address

■ postcode area, not this address

What to know before you offerThe checks

Every tenancy here is periodic, with no Section 21 to end it

Tenancies are now periodic, with no Section 21 — budget a longer void.

1 problem found · 4 came back clear · 2 we could not check · 2 do not apply to this property

■ from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025listing last seen 16 Sep 2026

Which strategy wins?The ways to run it

Nothing here beats a plain let

Let it to the council: £3,000 a year less, but they keep paying when it is empty.

Standard rental+£68 · £88,314 in

Guaranteed council rent−£182 · £88,314 in

Housing-benefit rent−£316 · £88,314 in

Short-stay let−£911 · £88,314 in

72 nearby short-lets within 20 km · medium confidence

Each row: money kept a month, then the cash it ties up. Not compared: Rent by the room (only 2 bedrooms) · Do it up, then remortgage (pays back at the remortgage) · Buy, improve & sell (pays out on sale)

◧ 4 ways, one measureranked on money kept each month, at the asking price

What would you walk away with?The five-year sums

−£1,295 after five years on the cash you put in, before tax on the sale

Less than the same cash would have made in a savings account, after tax on the interest. The savings account’s capital is not at risk; the property’s is. A fall of about 25% in the price would leave nothing from a sale after selling costs, and you would still owe the lender any shortfall. That is the £88,314 you put in. The 5-year fix runs past this 5-year hold, so the rate reset comes after it.

◧ 2.0%/yr growth assumed